- Adam Back believes the main wave of institutional demand for bitcoin has not started yet.
- In his view, more than 95% of potential demand from professionally managed capital could come in over the next few years.
- Back expects the asset to surpass $1 million before the current market cycle ends, roughly in late 2028.
Blockstream co-founder and CEO Adam Back said bitcoin’s long-term upside potential remains significant, and that the main inflow of institutional capital is still ahead. He said this on CNBC.
He emphasized that he has personally bet that bitcoin will break the seven-figure mark before the current cycle ends, which is commonly associated with the end of 2028.
“I have a bet on for Bitcoin to top a million by the end of the cycle,” Back said.
“I have a bet on for Bitcoin to top a million by the end of the cycle,” Back said.
Why Institutional Demand Could Rise
“We’re still 95% or more of that to come in the following years,” Back said, referring to potential demand from institutional investors and professionally managed investment products.
He clarified that this is his own estimate of the future market, not a measured figure.
In Back’s view, one source of future demand could be mutual funds and model investment portfolios run by large asset managers, including BlackRock. Through such products, access to bitcoin is not only available to investors who buy crypto on their own, but also to a broader pool of savers whose money is managed by professional managers.
At the same time, the Blockstream CEO cautioned against an overly straightforward reading of spot Bitcoin ETF statistics. According to him, some inflows and outflows may be tied to technical strategies, including basis trading, rather than a shift in investors’ long-term view of the asset.
Note that over the past week, spot Bitcoin ETFs lost $1.28 billion.
Back also called bitcoin digital gold, whose value is supported by limited supply. The interview description separately mentions the first cryptocurrency’s 200-week moving average, which at the time of the conversation was hovering near $67,000.
Beck Expects Bitcoin at $1 Million
According to the entrepreneur, demand from professional asset managers could rise significantly in the coming years, and the price of the first cryptocurrency could surpass $1 million by the end of the cycle.
Beck’s bullish outlook contrasts with the more restrained estimates of some market participants. In particular, VanEck previously said bitcoin could reach $3 million per 1 BTC by 2050, provided the asset sees broad adoption in global trade, while Bitwise raised its 10-year forecast to $1.6 million.
At the same time, JPMorgan Asset Management built an average annual bitcoin return of 10% into its long-term model for the next decade.
Among the short-term risks for the asset, analysts also cite underperformance versus the stock market and competition for speculative capital. Against this backdrop, Beck emphasizes long-term demand drivers and bitcoin’s scarcity.
He also noted that advances in artificial intelligence could create threats for crypto exchanges and online services, but do not necessarily pose the same danger to the Bitcoin protocol itself.
As a reminder, Bloomberg analysts pointed to bitcoin losing its status as the primary risk asset amid underperformance versus the stock market.
